{"id":2104,"date":"2025-12-03T16:33:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T16:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jpit.uk\/?p=25047"},"modified":"2025-12-03T16:33:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T16:33:06","slug":"good-news-of-great-joy-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/standrewsurcrustington.org.uk\/?p=2104","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Good news of great joy\u2026 for all!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Supporting churches to respond to the co-option of Christmas by the Far Right<\/h3>\n

Local churches across the UK will already have well-developed plans for celebrating Christmas \u2013 both in our church buildings and with our wider communities. Each of us will have had a lifetime of sharing the message at the heart of Christmas, \u2018good news of great joy\u2026 for all\u2019.<\/p>\n

But this year, we have seen a \u2018turning up of the volume\u2019 of Far Right politics and the co-option of Christian language and symbols \u2013 including Christmas \u2013 for a nationalist agenda, overtly hostile to asylum-seekers and Muslims, and more covertly threatening to many more of us in our churches and neighbourhoods. <\/p>\n

This includes an event planned for central London on 13th<\/sup> December, led by \u2018Tommy Robinson\u2019 and \u2018Unite the Kingdom\u2019, with the explicit aim of \u2018putting Christ back into Christmas\u2019, but associated closely with aggressive patriotism, xenophobia and Islamophobia. We\u2019ll be all too aware that within our church communities, and our wider neighbourhoods, there will be some people who find these events threatening or scary, some who will want to fiercely reject them, others who will be drawn to them for a variety of reasons, and still many others who will feel confused and bewildered by the mixed messages that they find themselves having to make sense of.<\/p>\n

We offer here a \u2018rapid response\u2019 resource for local churches wanting to navigate these complexities and discern faithful ways forward: to celebrate Christmas with a clear message of love for all our neighbours and (in small but significant ways) resisting agendas of division and hostility, while recognising that even within our own church communities there will very likely be a wide diversity of experiences, hopes and fears, and political views.<\/p>\n

We include here a call to focus particularly on Sunday 14th<\/sup> December (which some Christian traditions call \u2018Gaudete Sunday\u2019) with services, events and wider communications that embody the themes of welcome, hospitality and joy \u2013 for all!<\/p>\n

About this resource<\/h3>\n

This resource has been compiled by Revd Dr Al Barrett, Hodge Hill Church (hodgehillvicar@hotmail.co.uk<\/a>), in collaboration with Larger Us<\/a>, the Centre for the Study of Bible & Violence<\/a>, the Joint Public Issues Team<\/a> (Baptist Union, Methodist Church & United Reformed Church), and a number other Christian leaders and organisations across the UK. <\/p>\n

Please note: as this is a \u2018rapid response\u2019 resource, with multiple contributors collaborating across different denominations and organisations, it does not claim to be comprehensive, \u2018authorised\u2019, or a single, unified position. All views expressed here are those of the contributors, who offer different and complementary perspectives on these complex issues.<\/p>\n

#JoyForAll
<\/strong>December 2025<\/p>\n

Additional downloadable resources<\/h3>\n

\u2018Good news great joy for all\u2019<\/a>: Created by Oasis Church Waterloo, this is free to use (you might want to add your own local logo to it).<\/p>\n

\u2018Bus Stop Nativi<\/a>t<\/a>y\u2019 by Andrew Gadd<\/a>: Permission granted for free use. <\/strong>High resolution version coming soon, with the strapline \u2018How will you welcome Christ this Christmas?\u2019<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Supporting churches to respond to the co-option of Christmas by the Far Right Local churches across the UK will already have well-developed plans for celebrating Christmas \u2013 both in our church buildings and with our wider communities. Each of us … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-urc-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t